2006 League Averages for Pitchers:
AL: 4.59 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 3.20 BB/9, 6.38 K/9, 1.14 HR/9
NL: 4.56 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 3.43 BB/9, 6.60 K/9, 1.12 HR/9
Mark Mulder – A lost season for Mulder, who had rotator cuff surgery in September. He won’t be ready for Opening Day. You can blame his batting-practice like perfomance on the injury, though was K rate is identical to last year. When you’re this hittable things can get ugly in a hurry; just ask Bruce Chen. He could bounce back somewhat next year in his age 29 season, but shoulder surgery is tough to return from.
Tomo Ohka – The 30 year-old missed a chunk of the season with a rotator cuff injury. Ohka is reliably a tick above average in the NL. He’s a solid fourth or fifth starter and should get something close to two years and $12MM.
Ramon Ortiz – Ortiz, 33, gives up a ton of hits but compensates with good control. If you can get 200 innings of league average ball out of him for $3MM, that’s not too bad.
Chan Ho Park – Park remains quite hittable, but at least he’s harnessed his control in San Diego. He earned a whopping $15MM in 2006 to finish off his awful contract. Any starter who keeps his ERA under 5 and WHIP under 1.40 will hook on somewhere.
